Chapter 516: First Anniversary Extra Chapter ~~ The Visitors Beginnings Part 1 ③ : Encounter ~~ (2/2)

Receiving the punch, the girl was so shocked that she couldn't even speak, but her mind was still thinking at high speed.

(Fast!? Heavy!? This is bad, I wasn't able to disperse the impact…… Oh no, this feeling…… in 0.1 or 0.2 seconds, I'll lose consciousness……)

An opening of just a few tenths of seconds is fatal in this level of battle. As soon as the girl had judged such a thing happening, the girl's body, with its vast amount of combat experience, began to act faster than she could think. Pulling out a small ball from a pouch at her waist, she threw it at Kuromueina as her body was being blown away.

As the small ball emitted light that spread out in that dark space, the girl who was knocked to the ground was knocked unconscious for a moment…… and leaped faster than her flesh could even scream out from the damage she received.

”……You really are amazing, aren't you?”

[———–here.]

”Unnn?”

[I'm not going to let myself die here!!! Now———– weave the world! Ἑκατόγχειρες!]

Feeling Kuromueina's overwhelming power with her body, the girl finally released her greatest and strongest trump card.

The ultimate form of her heart tool Ἑκατόγχειρες…… With her activation chant, the lights twirling around her body like shooting stars were absorbed into the girl's body.

And as she took all the light into her body———– ”the girl fell to her knees, spitting blood out of her mouth”.

”…………….?”

[……Wh…… y……]

It wasn't that Kuromueina had done anything. The girl who was kneeling down on the floor was dumbfounded, her eyes opened wide and she froze where she sat.

(Why? Ἑκατόγχειρες won't respond…… I don't feel my strength increasing.)

Yes, the reason why the girl fell to her knees was simple. It turned out that the strongest trump card she had used ”failed”. The girl had an expression of disbelief, but after a little while, she seemed to have realized something…… as a sad smile appeared on her lips.

(……Ahh, I see…… That's right. I thought that no matter what name I call myself, and no matter what I looked like…… I would still be Alicia. But the truth is that I've just been pretending to be oblivious about it for a long time……)

The root of the girl's power is her heart…… the bonds she weaves are her power and the foundation of how she became the hero who had overcome many predicaments.

(My…… Alicia's heart…… had already been broken…… a long time ago.)

Looking back to the past, she had always felt the signs. Even in the midst of battle, she no longer had the feeling that ”she could be as strong as she once was, no matter how much she trained”.

The girl's heart was filled with holes as she kept losing the people she cared about…… and before she knew it, her heart had been shattered, and only a small fragment remained.

(Then, this me who had arrived in this place…… this me who just lives with a broken heart…… Who am I? I don't know. I don't know but…… there's one thing that I know of.)

Staring at the golden eyes in the darkness, a single tear leaked out within her eyes, her weakness apparent within it.

[……My bad…… Iris…… I couldn't…… keep my promise.]

Prepared to die, the girl lowered her head…… but the killing strike that she was waiting for didn't come.

Seeing that the girl had lost her will to fight, Kuromueina returned to her young girl form and approached the girl, holding out her hand.

[……Eh?]

[Come now, hold still. I'm going to use Recovery Magic on you.]

The girl stared in disbelief at Kuromueina, who was treating her wounds with a faint smile on her lips.

After Kuromueina finished healing her wounds, the girl quietly asked.

[……Why didn't you kill me?]

[There are many reasons. Like how I never wanted to kill you in the first place, or like how I didn't know what exactly was going on earlier…… but I guess the greatest reason for that is…… unnn. I'm just thinking that if ”you're crying while thinking of someone special to you, then you shouldn't die yet”, I guess?]

[………………..]

Listening to the words Kuromueina said with a gentle smile on her face, the girl was silent for a moment, before she sat down on the ground and looked up at the sky.

[Ah~~ I lost. I totally lost. You've defeated me…… Boil me, grill me, do whatever you want.]

Perhaps, the fact that her tone had naturally changed to a respectful one may be an indication of her awareness that she is no longer the hero…… she is no longer Alicia. Anyway, the girl stopped resisting and decided to leave the decision to Kuromueina.

Seeing the girl acting like that, Kuromueina wryly smiled and calmly spoke.

[……Then, how about you tell me your situation? Ah, but before that, I guess I'll introduce myself. I'm Kuromueina, what's your name?]

[……My name…… huh……]

Hearing her question, the girl looked like she was thinking for a bit. She doesn't want to use her former name, Alicia, anymore.

The heart of hero Alicia had already been shattered, and the being living in this world now is just a fragment of her former self……

[Unnn? Could it be that you don't have a name? Then, I'll give you one!]

[…………………]

[How about ”Drei”?]

[……Hmmm, let's see. I guess I'll call myself Shalltear.]

Shalltear…… In the language of the world where the girl was from, it means ”a fragment of illusion”. Yes, holding the meaning that the current confidence she have is just a fragment of a dream…… an illusion held by the hero named Alicia, she named herself this.

[……Shalltear? Eh? What about the name Drei that I thought of?]

[No way, I don't want to be called a ”tacky name” like that……]

[T- Tacky!?]

[Kuromueina-san…… Kuro-san, you don't have a very good naming sense huh?]

[I don't!?]

Looking at the shocked Kuromueina, the girl…… Shalltear finally smiled, for the first time since arriving in this world.

~~ Kuromueina's family (Numerical Names) ~~

Serious-senpai : [It's still considerably…… serious…… w- wait, Author-san? You don't have to push yourself, you know? I think you should stop now…… M- More seriousness than this could be fatal to your health…… You should calm down for a bit and reorganize yourself…… C- Come on, I will help you out……]   ←   (Seriousness Incarnate)